Foreign e-tailers to rake in Rs 54,700 cr from local shoppers

Mumbai: Despite government's attempt to curtail imports of consumer items, shoppers are likely to buy Rs 54,700 crore worth foreign goods from overseas e-tailers this year, a report said Thursday.

"Indians will spend an estimated Rs 54,700 crore by shopping online from other countries in 2015," according to the report commissioned by international payments major PayPal.

The report did not share corresponding figures for the money spent by Indians in online shopping through websites located abroad. However, it said the cross border spends by Indians are likely to grow by 78.5 percent in 2016.

A substantial 27 percent of the orders are being done from US-based websites followed by China (11 percent) and Britain (10 percent), it said.

About 53 percent of these online shopping through foreign websites are for personal items like clothing/ apparel, footwear and accessories followed by electronics (51 percent), and digital entertainment and education items (44 percent), it added.

The report attributed this trend to facilities like free shipping, safe way to pay, proof of product authenticity, options to pay in local currency and faster delivery.

On the detrimental factors, it said the high customs duties and shipping costs play a big role in dissuading potential buyers.

Other negative factors include difficulties in returning goods, foreign currency payments and identity theft or frauds.